Circular knitting machines



1966 R. PEBERDY CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.10, 1963 Nov. 8, 1966 R. PEBERDY CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10, 1963 NOV. 8, 1966 PEBERDY 3,283,539

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 25a vF165 //V VE/V TOE EOL AND PEBE/ZD Y United States Patent 3,283,539CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Roland Peberdy, Leicester, England, assignorto The Bentley Engineering Company Limited, Leicester, England FiledSept. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 307,843 Claims priority, application GreatBritain, Sept. 18, 1962, 35,493/ 62 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-14) This inventionconcerns circular knitting machines of the opposed (e.g., superimposed)needle cylinder type having two co-axial opposed needle cylinders(termed a plain cylinder and a rib cylinder) double-ended needlesoperable in either cylinder to produce rib or plain needle loops andcapable of transfer between the two cylinders to knit plain or ribfabric and to change the rib pattern, a sinker bed radially movableweb-holding sinkers in said bed associated with the plain cylinder andhaving webholding nibs and draw edges over which the needles in theplain cylinder draw their loops, means for moving the sinkers seriallyinwards to and outwards from a knockover position, and verge bitsassociated with the rib cylinder and having draw edges over whichneedles in the rib cylinder draw their loops. Such knitting machines arehereinafter referred to as circular knitting machines of the opposedneedle cylinder type. They are commonly employed for knitting stockings,socks and the like, and when employed for this purpose are provided withmeans whereby the needle cylinders may be oscillated in the productionof heel and toe pouches.

An object of the present invention is to provide mechanism in saidmachine as will result in an improvement in the appearance and qualityof the knitted fabric in which groups of rib stitches are combined withthe groups of plain stitches. Fabrics of this character include bothbroad rib fabrics and links-links fabrics.

In drawing plain loops of a knitting yarn the needles which are in theplain cylinder (invariably the bottom cylinder of the two) aresuccessively lowered until their heads are a required distance below thedraw edges of the sinkers. Therefore each plain needle draws a plainloop of yarn downwardly between two adjacent sinkers. In a correspondingmanner, in drawing rib loops from the yarn the needles in the ribcylinder are successively raised until their heads are a requireddistance above the draw edges of the verge bits. Thus each rib needledraws the rib loop of yarn upwardly between two adjacent verge bits.When groups of plain loops are combined with groups of rib loops, as forexample in broad rib fabric, it is desirable that the plain and ribloops shall be of equal size. This result is obtained by balancing thestitch cams of the plain and rib cylinders so that equal lengths of loopare drawn by both sets of needles.

In the case of a one-and-one rib formation, alternate needles aredisposed in the plain cylinder, and the intervening needles in the ribcylinder. The yarn. forming the loops extends from adjacent needles inthe plain cylinder to each intervening needle in the top cylinder.

It will therefore be seen that the following conditions are present withknitting a course containing groups of plain loops, groups of rib loopsand groups of one-andone loops. Plain loops are drawn over the sinkerdraw edges, the rib loops are drawn over the draw edges of the vergebits, and the one-and-one loops are drawn from plain needle to ribneedle. If the plain loop and the rib loops are to be of even lengthirrespective of whether the knitting formation is one-and-one or broadrib, then theoretically the sinker draw edges and the verge bit drawedges should coincide. This desirable condition presents a problem whenconsidered with respect to the "ice construction and function of thesinker and verge bit assemblies generally in use in knitting machines ofthe type specified.

It has hither-to been the practice to assemble the verge bits in a discshaped body which has radial slots cut in its rim, the bits are locatedone in each slot to protrude radially outwardly from the rim and arelocked in position by a cap which is secured to the body. The wholeassembly is located in the end of the rib cylinder adjacent to theneedles with each verge bit positioned between a pair of rib needles,and it is secured to a tube which is slida-bly located in the centre ofthe bearing for the rib cylinder. The axial position of the vergeassembly can be varied with respect to the needles by shifting the tubeagainst the action of a spring.

It will be realised that in such a construction the verge bits are onlycapable of vertical adjustment en masse. As each verge bit is positionedimmediately in register with each sinker of the plain cylinder and asgroups of the sinkers require to be moved radially inwards to theknockover position it is impossible for the verge bits to be loweredcollectively beyond the tops of the nibs of the retracted sinkers.Therefore, the draw edges of the verge bits cannot be brought as closeto the draw edges of the sinkers as is desired.

The present invention provides a construction which aims at obviatingthe difliculty. It provides a circular knitting machine of the opposedneedle cylinder type, having individually movable verge 'bits, and meansfor advancing them serially towards the sinkers to occupy, at the stitchforming or loop drawing zone, a projected position in which needles inthe rib cylinder draw loops over the draw edges of the bits and forretracting them serially to permit the sinkers to move in for theknockover. This permits the draw edges of the verge bits to be broughtnearer to the draw edges of the sinkers than in known constructions.

Desirably means are also provided for adjusting the verge bits en masseaxially of the rib cylinder.

Preferably the verge bits are individually slidable in the direction ofthe length of the rib cylinder and are mounted in tricks formed in a bedat the interior of the rib cylinder.

In order that the invention may be better understood reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through the top or rib cylinder of amachine of the type specified, with associated parts taken along line BBof FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 2 is a developed view of the cams for operating the verge bitsand sinkers;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of needles operating in both cylindersand taken on the line EE in FIG- URE 4;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line AA in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged top view of the cam assembly taken on ahorizontal 'line immediately over platform 29 in FIGURE 1.

The machine shown in FIGURE 1 is of the opposed needle cylinder type,and suflicient thereof is shown to permit it to be identified as such;certain conventional parts such as the yarn feeders, jack cams, and thedriving mechanisms for the cylinders, being well understood in the art,are omitted for the sake of clarity in illustrating the invention. Thetop or rib needle cylinder is indicated at 1 and the bottom or plainneedle cylinder at 100. Cylinder 1 is suspended from the cylindercarriage gear 3, being fixed thereto by screws 2. Gear 3 is itselfsuspended by screws 4 from a rotatable cover plate 5. The whole assemblyis supported by a ball race ,6 contained in bearing housing 7 mounted onthe top plate 8 which is supported from the bottom bed plate, not shown,by pillars, not shown, in a customary manner. The top cylinder 1 isdriven to rotate synchronously with the bottom cylinder 100 by means ofa drive shaft 9 having a pinion 10 meshing with gear 3.

Suspended -from the bottom of bearing housing 7 there is a cam box 11containing cams for operating jacks, not shown, in the top cylinder, andbox 11 also carries a further cam box 12 containing ca ms for operatingthe sliders '14 in the top cylinder. These sliders act on and operatethe double ended needles 15 in known manner. Needles, jacks, andsliders, slide in tricks cut in the periphery of cylinder 1, there beinglike tricks in the exterior of cylinder 100. Cylinder 100 is alsoprovided with arcuate radially movable web-holding sinkers 36 working inarcuate tricks in a sinker ring 50 received inside the cylinder. Thesesinkers 36 have draw edges 36a and web- 'holding ni-bs 36b standingproud of the draw edges and are operable by sinker earns 51, 52 forminga cam track 53 (FIGURE 2).

In the present construction tricks 16 are also cut in the interior ofcylinder 1, these tricks 16 being midway between the needle tricks. Eachof these tricks 16 contains a blade-like instrument 17 herein termed averge bit and it will be appreciated that each of instruments 17 isaligned with one of the sinkers 36 of the bottom or plain cylinder 100.The lower, substantially radial, edge of each instrument 17 constitutesa draw edge.

Each instrument 17 has a controlling butt 17a located 'in a cam track18, FIGURE 2, formed between two annular earns 19, 20. These cams 19, 20which are slidahly located in the needle cylinder 1, remain stationarywhilst the cylinder revolves around them. Thus the .instruments 17 aregiven up and down movements at the locations B, C, and D in FIGURE 2.

These locations correspond to the stitch forming or loop :drawing zonesof three knitting and feeding positions. The verge bits 17 and sinkers36 travel from left to right in FIGURE 2 and the locations in cam track53 corresponding to the knockover positions of the sinkers 36 areindicated at E, F, and G. Portion H of cam track 53 permits the sinkersto move outwards slightly from knock-over to relax the pull of nibs 36bon the fabric.

Cams 19, 20 are secured to a hollow member 21 which is fixed by screws22 to the lower end of a tube 23 which extends up through the top coverplate 5 and has a collar 24 fixed to it just below the top end. Acompression spring 27 provided at each end with locating washers 28 ishoused in a pocket formed between tube 23 and the hub of the cove-rplate 5. This spring 27 urges the cam assembly upwards by pressing onthe underside of a carrier clamped to tube 23 by screw 26.

Secured to a platform 29 which is fixed to the bed plate 8 and overhangsthe revolving cover plate 5 there is a fulcrum post 30 which carries alever 31. One end of the latter is formed with a V shaped nose 31a whichengages in a notch cut in a collar 32 freely mounted on the top end oftube 23 with a fibre thrust washer 101 provided between it and collar24. The outer end 31b of lever 31 is acted on by an adjustable screwtappet car ried in the end of a lifter rod 33 slidably mounted in'topbed plate 8. When the rod 33 is raised by a cam means suitablypositioned on the conventional main control drum of the machine, notshown, the nose 31a of the lever depresses the collars 32, 24 and thusdepresses the cam assembly 19, 20, 21 against the action ofspring 27.

It will thus be seen that not only are the instruments 17- capable ofindividual up and down movement as dictated by cam track 18, but arealso adjustable en masse axiallyof cylinder 1 under the control ofsuitable cams from the main control drum.

It is to be pointed out that although the cam assembly 19, 20, 21 doesnot revolve with needle cylinder 1, it is capable of a limited angulardisplacement for reasons later explained. The extent of thisdisplacement is controlled by the carrier 25 clamped to tube 23. Theextreme end 25a of this carrier is forked to straddle a stud 34protruding from the underside of platform 29. An adjusting screw 35 witha lock nut is provided in the carrier 25 to adjust the clearance betweenthe stud 34 and the pron-gs of the forked end 25a. Thus by adjustingscrew 35 the carrier 25, tube 23 and cam assembly 19, 21, can be alloweda limited angular displacement. The necessity for this displacement willbe come apparent after the operation of the verge instrument 17 andtheir relationship to the sinkers 36 has been explained.

When knitting with needles in both cylinders 1, 100, the complete vergeinstrument assembly is depressed to a low position, the lifter rod 33having been raised by a cam on the main control drum. This low positionis such that those instruments 17 which have their butts 17a in thelower portion of the track 18 at locations B, C, D, FIGURE 2, will havetheir draw edges aforesaid just above the draw edges 36a of thosesinkers 36 which are in the outer position as shown at the right handside of FIGURE 1. This occurs at the stitch forming or loop drawing zoneassociated with each yarn feeding station. Those sinkers 36 which arenot at the loop drawing zones are moved inwards, as indicated at 36' atthe left of FIGURE 1, for the knockover. As the sinkers move inwards theverge instruments 17 are raised to clear the nibs 36b of the sinkers,the butts 17a of instruments 17 moving into the upper positions betweenlocations B, C, D, FIGURE 2.

The general effect created by the above conditions is that at spacedzones around the needle circle there are groups of sinkers 36 havingtheir nibs36b in the inner knockover position, and between these sinkergroups there are groups of instruments 17 which have been projecteddownwardly to a level in which their lower ends are below the level ofthe sinker nibs. There is thus produced an interlocking effect betweenadjacent ends of the two needle cylinders. It is this interlockingeffect which gives rise to the need for providing tor limited angulardisplacement of the verge cam assembly as previouslymentioned. Shouldthe complete verge assembly be lowered by error whilst the cylinders areoscillating in the production of a heel or toe pouch, then in order tolower and raise the verge instruments in the same relationship to thethrow out and retraction of the sinkers in both the directions of swingof the needle cylinders, the verge cams must be capable of a shoggingmovement to the same extent as the conventional shogging movement of thesinker cams 51, 52. This sh-ogging movement of the verge cams isprovided for by the reception of stud 34- in the forked end 2541 ofcarrier 25 and its extent is adjustably determined by the adjustmentscrew 35. The shogging movement of the verge cams occurs immediatelyafter each reversal of movement during reciprocatory knitting and iscaused by the drag of the butts 17a of the verge bits 17 on the vergecams 19, 20. However during normal operation of knitting machine theverge assembly is never lowered whilst the needle cylinders areoscillating.

Means are provided for preventing lateral deflection of the lower endsof the verge instruments 17 where they project below their tricks 16.For this purpose there is provided a support ring 38, FIGURE 1, havingits periphery cut with radial slots 38a which guide and support thelower extremities of instruments 17. This ring 38 is of inverted cupshape and accommodates in its interior the usual disc 39 for applyingtension to the heel and toe pouches. Ring 38 is secured to the lower endof a tube 40 located within the tube 23. Tube 40 has a collar 41 fixedto its top end and freely mounted below the collar is a friction washer42 and another collar 43. Located in a V notch in the underside ofcollar 43 there is the nose 44a of a bell crank lever 44 fulcrumed inpost 45 secured to platform 29. Post 45 is provided with an adjustmentscrew 46 with locknut 4-7. Screw 46 engages arm 44b of lever 44 tosupport collar 43, the revolving tube 40, and the support 38. Acompression spring 48 rurges support ring 38 and tube 40 downwards, thusmaintaining arm 44b of bell crank lever 44 in contact with adjustingscrew 46. Screw 46 is adjusted to position the support ring 38 at asuitable height above the sinkers 36.

With the mechanism described it is possible to overcome the difficultiesoutlined herein. A typical example of knitting a course in which groupsof needles in a broad rib setout are combined with needles in aone-andone set out is illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURES 3 and 4.It will be appreciated from these figures that it is now possible tolower those verge instruments 17 which are aligned above those sinkerswhich are in the outer or throw out position to such an extent thattheir draw edges are below the tops of the sinker nibs, FIGURE 4. Thisenables the rib needles to be brought to a lower position than hashitherto been possible and by so doing the length of yarn extending fromneedle to needle in the one-and one sections is shortened until itapproximately equals the length of yarn extending between adjacentneedles in either the plain panels or the rib panels of the fabric.

What I claim is:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the type having two coaxiallyopposed needle cylinders, comprising a plain cylinder and a ribcylinder, double-ended needles operable in either cylinder to producerib or plain needle loops and capable of transfer between the twocylinders to knit plain or rib fabric and to change the rib pattern, asinker bed, radiallyenovable-web-holding sinkers in said bed associatedwith the plain cylinder, said sinkers having Webhold-ing nibs and drawedges over which needles in the plain cylinder draw their loops, at aloop drawing zone, means for moving said sinkers serially inwards to andoutwards from a knock-over position, and loop forming verge bitsassociated with the rib cylinder and having draw edges over whichneedles in the rib cylinder draw their loops; the combination of a bedhaving the verge bits aforesaid mounted therein for individual movementlengthwise of the rib cylinder towards and away from the draw edges ofthe sinkers, cam means for advancing said verge bits axially of the ribcylinder and serially towards said sinker draw edges to occupy, at theloop drawing zone, a projected loop drawing position in which needles inthe rib cylinder draw their loops over the draw edges of the bits, meansfor retracting the bits serially from said projected position as relatedsinkers move in for the knockover and means for moving said cam means toadjust the bits en masse axially of the rib cylinder.

2. In a circular knitting machine of the type having two coaxiallyopposed needle cylinders, comprising a plain cylinder and a ribcylinder, double-ended needles operable in either cylinder to producerib or plain needle loops and capable of transfer between the twocylinders to knit plain or rib fabric and to change the rib pattern, asinker bed, radially-movable-web-holding sinkers in said bed associatedwith the plain cylinder, said sinkers having web-holding nibs and drawedges over which needles in the plain cylinder draw their loops, at aloop drawing zone, means for moving said sinkers serially inwards to andoutwards from a knock-over position, and loop form ing verge bitsassociated with the rib cylinder and having draw edges over whichneedles in the rib cylinder draw their loops and having operating butts,the combination of a tricked bed 'having the verge bits aforesaidmounted therein for individual movement lengthwise of the rib cylindertowards and away from the draw edges of the sinkers, said bed beingdisposed in the interior of the rib cylinder, and having its tricksextending axially of said cylinder for individual sliding movement ofthe bits in their tricks lengthwise of said cylinder, a cam assembly inthe interior of the rib cylinder for acting on the butts of the bits tomove the bits axially of the rib cylinder to advance them seriallytowards said sinker draw edges to occupy, at the loop drawing zone, aprojected position in which needles in the rib cylinder draw their loopsover the draw edges of the bits, means for adjusting said cam assemblyaxially of said cylinder to adjust the bits en masse axially of the ribcylinder and means :fior retracting the bits serially from saidprojected position as related sinkers move in for the knock-over.

3. In a circular knitting machine of the type having two coaxiallyopposed needle cylinders organized for knitting by rotation and byoscillation, comprising a plain cylinder and a rib cylinder,double-ended needles operable in either cylinder to produce ribs orplain needle loops and capable of transfer between the two cylinders toknit plain or ri-b fabric and to change the rib pattern, a sinker bed,radially-movable-web-holding sinkers in said bed associated with theplain cylinder, said sinkers having webholding nibs and draw edges overwhich needles in the plain cylinder draw their loops, at a loop drawingzone, means for moving said sinkers in limited angular displace ment inrelation to the needle cylinders during oscillation and serially inwardsto and outwards from a knock-over position, and loop forming verge bitsassociated with the rib cylinder and having draw edges over whichneedles in the rib cylinder draw their loops and having operating butts;the combination of a tricked bed having the verge bits aforesaid mountedtherein for individual movement lengthwise of the rib cylinder towardsand away from the draw edges of the sinkers, said bed being disposed inthe interior of the rib cylinder, and having its tricks extendingaxially of said cylinder for indivdual sliding movement of the bits intheir tricks lengthwise of said cylinder, means for opera-ting the bitsand for adjusting them en masse axially of the rib cylinder whichcomprises a cam assembly in the interior of the rib cylinder for actingon the butts of the bits to advance them serially towards said sinkerdraw edges to occupy, at said zone, a projected position in whichneedles in the rib cylinder draw their loops over the draw edges of thebits, and means for adjusting said cam assembly axially of saidcylinder, means for limitedly angularly displacing said cam assembly inrelation to the needle cylinders during oscillation, and means torretracting the bits serially from said projected position, as relatedsinkers move in for the knock-over.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,080,85712/1913- Spiers 66-104 1,881,360 10/1932 Kent 66 -14 2,258,569 10/1941Holmes et al. 6614 2,286,805 6/ 1942 Hurd et al 6614 2,286,806 6/ 1942Hurd et al 6614 2,450,376 9/1948 Holmes 66-14 2,719,416 10/ 1955Saunders 66-14 2,959,040 11/1960 Saunders 66-14 2,999,375 9/1961Saunders 6614 M'ERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner.

R. FELDBAUM, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE TYPE HAVING TWO COAXIALLY OPPOSED NEEDLE CYLINDERS, COMPRISING A PLAIN CYLINDER AND A RIB CYLINDER, DOUBLE-ENDED NEEDLES OPERABLE IN EITHER CYLINDER TO PRODUCE RIB OR PLAIN NEEDLE LOOPS AND CAPABLE OF TRANSFER BETWEEN THE TWO CYLINDERS TO KNIT PLAIN A RIB FABRIC AND TO CHANGE THE RIB PATTERN, A SINKER BED, RADIALLY-MOVABLE-WEB-HOLDING SINKERS IN SAID BED ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLAIN CYLINDERS, SAID SINKERS HAVING WEBHOLDING NIBS AND DRAW EDGES OVER WHICH NEEDLES IN THE PLAIN CYLINDER DRAW THEIR LOOPS, AT A LOOP DRAWING ZONE, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SINKERS SERIALLY INWARDS TO AND OUTWARDS FROM A KNOCK-OVER POSITION, AND LOOP FORMING VERGE BITS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RIB CYLINDER AND HAVING DRAW EDGES OVER WHICH NEEDLES IN THE RIB CYLINDER DRAW THEIR LOOPS; THE COMBINATION OF A BED HAVING THE VERGE BITS AFORESAID MOUNTED THEREIN FOR INDIVIDUAL MOVEMENT LENGTHWISE OF THE RIB CYLINDER TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM THE DRAW EDGES OF THE SINKERS, CAM MEANS FOR ADVANCING SAID VERGE BITS AXIALLY OF THE RIB CYLINDER AND SERIALLY TOWARDS SAID SINKER DRAW EDGES TO OCCUPY, AT THE LOOP DRAWING ZONE, A PROJECTED LOOP DRAWING POSITION IN WHICH NEEDLES IN THE RIB CYLINDER DRAW THEIR LOOPS OVER THE DRAW EDGES OF THE BITS, MEANS FOR RETRACTING THE BITS SERIALLY FROM SAID PROJECTED POSITION AS RELATED SINKERS MOVE IN FOR THE KNOCKOVER AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID CAM MEANS TO ADJUST THE BITS EN MASSE AXIALLY OF THE RIB CYLINDER. 